


Why Magnus lies about his age.

by Multi_shipping_af



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments (Movies), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Magnus Bane Backstory, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Opening Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 16:05:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9910463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multi_shipping_af/pseuds/Multi_shipping_af
Summary: After spending the day celebrating Magnus's birthday, Alec finally decides to ask him the question he had been itching to ask for a while.





	

Since they had been broken up at the time of Magnus's birthday-not to mention in the middle of a war-, Alec insisted that they have a late celebration. And with Magnus Bane being the part loving warlock that he is, couldn't resist. After a fun night with their friends, Magnus and Alec sat on their couch, listening to the fire crackling in the fireplace. Magnus was sitting with Alec's head in his lap. And the shadowhunter lay comfortably on the couch with his boyfriend playing with his hair. It was such a quiet peaceful moment, and Alec didn't want to disturb that peace. But he had a question he had been itching to ask for the whole day.  
"Magnus?.."  
"Hmm?" The warlock was obviously enjoying that peace immensely. His voice was so soft, and his fingers kept twirling in Alec's hair as he looked away from them and at him.  
"Er..How old are you?" A few weeks ago, Alec would have never dared to ask this question. He knew Magnus didn't like to talk about his past, and this precise subject was probably pretty sensitive since- as far as Alec knew- nobody other than Ragnor and Catarina knew the answer to that question.  
However, Magnus didn't seem angry, but there was something in his eyes, a clear sign that he was reliving a least enjoyable memory.   
"Why do you ask?" He replied, not in a accusing tone, but in a curious one.  
"I was just wondering. Since this party was for your birthday and all."   
"It's a bit of a long story. You sure you wanna hear it?" This question was useless as Alec- and Magnus knew this well enough- loved hearing stories about Magnus's past. Whether dark or happy, it did not matter to him.   
"Definitely." He said sitting up straight facing the beautiful man in front of him.  
"Well, as you know, my _father_ tried to kill me after he found out the reason my mother killed herself.." There was a short silence in which Alec felt the need to wrap his arms around his boyfriend and comfort him. But before he could move to do that, Magnus continued:  
"Well after I...stopped him, I had no one. No family to go to, and no money to live on as my parents weren't wealthy and didn't leave me anything. Not to mention, I had this new ability I didn't understand. It also didn't help that I had to discover it the way I did..."   
The same temptation rose in Alec again as another silence followed, but Magnus started again in a second:  
"Anyway, I didn't have a choice but to rely on my magic to survive. I would magic people's things into my possession. And then I would go sell them. I was cought a number of times and I had to run for it as I hadn't yet learned any persuasion or freezing spells." He smiled a little at the memory.   
"By the time I was twenty, I had become so powerful. There were rumors around my village about what I could do, and it made me feel very alone as people were often afraid of me. However that was not what worried me the most." He stopped for a second, sighted, and continued:  
"I had not aged for two years. Someone else probably wouldn't have noticed this, but as I was trying to understand what I was, I was focusing on every detail, grasping at every straw. But I didn't know about the shadow world. I didn't know about downworlders or warlocks or anything, so I thought I was some freak. That was untill I met someone who changed my perspective. A warlock like me." He stopped again and smiled. But it wasn't a happy smile. It was the kind of smile you had when you were remembering someone you loved who had died.  
"He told me about the shadow world, about my powers, why I am the way that I am. He explained to me that I was not an abomination, that I was just different, and different could be good. He also said that I was an extraordinary warlock, especially that I tought myself everything I knew. But in that time, the accords didn't exist. And unfortunately, shadowhunters abused their powers and they often came after innocent downworlders just because they could. So he told me that I couldn't seem weak. He came up with the idea of adding a few years to my age to make them fear me. And I suppose I got used to it. In the beginning, when I was only twenty, I would say I was two hundred years old. And as time went on, I counted up from there. Untill I stopped caring about counting and just said whatever number I felt like saying..." He gave a tiny smile and added: "So to answer your question, Alexander, I am almost seven hundred years old. I just turned six hundred and ninety three to be exact." He grinned, and this grin was such a Magnus grin. It was a bit challenging and daring, like a cat daring you to pet them again after it scratched you the first time. Of course, Alec was used to this smile by now. Having a party-loving boyfriend who would drag you to never ending clubs and get you in countless uncomfortable situations eventhough you were such an introvert meant getting used to that smile. Especially on particularly crazy nights when he had too much to drink or when he was just feeling highly adventurous.   
"You said that once. In Idris, when we were fighting the Iblis demons. It was the first time you told me you loved me. You said you were seven hundred years old. But then you changed it to eight hundred years old."   
"Well I guess I was already feeling vulnerable enough, then. I didn't want to add to that by telling you my real age. That's why I lied and added another hundred years. But you have to admit, Alexander, you've got a way of making me want to open up. My age wasn't the only thing I let slip that night." He winked and made to draw Alec back on his lap. But the shadowhunter didn't move.  
"What happened to him? Your warlock friend, I mean."  
Magnus winced at the question. He obviously didn't want to answer it.  
"We had to go our separate ways." Was all he said. But Alec kept pushing "Why? What happened?"  
"Alexander... I have never spoken about him to anyone before." His voice was getting smaller.  
"Why not?" Alec knew he was pushing a little too much. If Magnus didn't want to tell him, he didn't have to. But on the other hand, he really wanted to know.  
"Well... We spent a lot of time together. He taught me a lot of useful spells and how the downworld worked. And for the first time since my mother died, I didn't feel alone anymore. And eventually, I fell in love with him..." He let out a breath. This time, Alec didn't fight his temptation. He reached a hand and put it on Magnus's, lifted it and kissed it gently.  
"He died, didn't he?" The younger boy asked.  
"No, he didn't actually... One day, I summoned enough courage to tell him how I felt. If you think people in this time are homophobic, you should have seen what it was like seven centuries ago. When I told him, he had the most disgusted look on his face. He yelled at me and told me he never wanted to see me again. And he never did."   
At the sound of that, Alec felt a pit form in his stomach. It was guilt. He felt guilty for pushing Magnus to talk about this. He tightened his grip on his hand and said in a small, gentle voice "I'm so sorry, Magnus."  
And Magnus smiled, it was a smile that illuminated his whole face.   
"It's alright, Alexander. Seven centuries are usually enough to get over heartbreak."  
And with that, Alec felt some of the tension leave him.   
"What was his name?" He asked.  
"Malcolm. Malcolm Fiore. At least that's what he went by back then. I haven't heard from him since."  
Alec made to go back to the position he was in at the beginning of their conversation. But Magnus grabbed him and kissed him. It was supposed to be a quick kiss, but Alec kept pulling Magnus in and it slowly started getting more passionate untill Magnus said "Maybe we should take this to the bedroom."   
Alec groaned in agreement and they walked to their bedroom, stumbling on each other and causing a few things to fall on their way.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing so bear with me :D Also english is not my native language so if you find any mistakes please tell me. Finally, if you have read Lady Midnight then you probably noticed the little plot twist I added at the end ;D


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